"Google Demo Slam: Epic Docs Animation" shows the power of Google Docs in the right hands

Google Docs, as a suite of software, has become more and more robust over the last few years, slowly edging out their offline competitors. But using Google Docs as an animation tool? That's just ludicrous.

Unless you’re director Varathit Uthaisri, a filmmaker in Google’s New York–based Creative Lab. He and two illustrators, Nam Doan and Arthur Metcalf, created 30 seconds of inspired brilliance using only the authoring tools included in the Google Docs Presentation environment. It's a bit like telling Frank Gehry he can only design with Lego blocks. (Come to think of it, that’d be pretty incredible.)

The resulting animation is a stream-of-consciousness romp through the mind of its creators. Occasional nods to the more mundane uses of Google Docs Presentation (charts, graphs and bullet lists) are sprinkled throughout the film only to heighten the surreal narrative underlying the project. It’s an invitation into the world of the software, asking users to think of Google Docs not as an alternative to some other software but as a gateway to another way of thinking entirely.

Anonymous

Love it!

AIGA Chicago actually showed a great Virtual Small Talk recently at the HOW Conference, where Konst & Teknik did their whole presentation live on Google Docs: http://www.vimeo.com/24160920 Not as speedy, of course, but cool to see a medium bent to suit the purpose.

To me it falls under the category of “not that you would, but you could.” It’s a fun piece, to be sure, but nothing about it makes me want to work in Google Docs. I mean, if there was no preface of how the piece was created, would the animation be as striking? It’s a showcase of talent and hard work, certainly, but what does it communicate about the ease and functionality of Google Docs?